There is still a lot of work to do to improve, concretize and demonstrate the theories of change that link economic opportunities for youth to stability, in the reconstruction programs of Dutch organizations. This is the main outcome of a workshop in which the theories of change of CARE, Cordaid, Oxfam, Save the Children, SPARK and ZOA were analyzed.

Linking employment projects to stability

The theories of change were compared with the four theoretical categories that Professor Tillman Brück has identified, linking employment projects to stability:

1. increased government legitimacy;
2. increased opportunity costs of violence;
3. reduced grievances leading to violence; and
4. reinforced social norms related to stability.

Most of the theories of change can be placed in categories 2 and 4, which is where most of the overlap – and potential synergy – between the programs can be found. 

Knowledge gaps

The analysis during the workshop revealed that Dutch organizations still have a lot to learn about the motivations, needs and rationales of the youth they work with. They identified the following knowledge gaps:

• What youth believe to be the link between their age group and violence
• Rationalities of youth: which factors can influence the motivations of young people to engage in conflict?
• How can the effectiveness of our programs increase (economic benefits, impact towards stability, social effects of programs)?
• Comparing 'economic approaches' that are focused on increasing livelihood options and employment, versus more 'holistic approaches' that also address the social status, identity and participation of youth in society.
• Targeting of youth groups without doing harm (without increasing inequality between targeted and non-targeted youth)
• The influence of the local conflict  on the impact of programs

Potential and need for further research

The workshop made the participating organizations realize that there are knowledge gaps in their theories of change relating economic opportunities for youth to stability, which should be addressed. The fact that many programs overlap but also complement one another, is a potential basis for joint applied research, which the participating organizations aim to explore in the near future. 

Rwanda, 7 – 8 July 2015: The Hague Institute for Global Justice and its partner organizations INES-Ruhengeri, PACCI, and UNU-MERIT, and a range of stakeholders and experts completed the first workshop for the project, “Employment for Stability - Does Opportunity Reduce Instability? A Meta-Analysis of Skills and Employment Interventions in LMICs”. Funded by the Netherlands Research Council (NWO), this two-year project will critically explore the relationship between employment, training and stability in low- and middle-income countries.

Workshop hosts, Rector Fr. Fabien Hagenimana and Mr. Gonzalves Nshimiyimana from INES-Ruhengeri, opened the event. The sessions, which were led by the project team, focused on the key conceptual, methodological and operational aspects of employment and training in unstable contexts, with Rwanda as one of the main country studies for discussion.

Key aspects and participants
The consultative workshop aimed to present the key aspects of the research project to a selection of business leaders, entrepreneurs, policy experts, practitioners and academics from the region. Participants included the Rwandan Ministry of Youth, Information, Communication and Technology, Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center Kigali, the University of Yaoundé II Cameroon, the Organisation for Social Sciences Research in Eastern and Southern Africa, SPARK Rwanda, and Women for Women International.

Research project
The research project overall will seek to improve understanding of how economic variables and stability are interrelated and how aid interventions may improve both development and stability, which are key knowledge gaps at present. The team will assess the impacts of two types of employment intervention – those focusing on job creation and those boosting employment training – on stability and on economic outcomes and opportunities in ten country studies in Africa and the Middle East.

The process from now
The Rwanda workshop was the first of several opportunities within the project for critical engagement and feedback. Over the next 18 months, the project team will organize a series of workshops in communities that have been recipients of employment interventions, a private-sector-supported ‘study tour’ with entrepreneurs and business leaders, among other consultations. Such participatory methods will enable the team to evaluate and disseminate findings, correlate results with real-life experiences, tailor research to the needs of practitioners and impact on processes of capacity building and policy formulation. The project’s findings will also be published in working papers and academic journals. For further information, please contact Ms Fabienne Smith.

The Employment for Stability project is an important part of The Hague Institute’s broader strategic work in this field that includes policy-oriented research and expert events on Global Business, Labor, and Economic Governance and human trafficking by the Global Governance and Rule of Law Programs.